


Vivacious

by AubreySimone



Category: InuYasha - A Feudal Fairy Tale
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-09-01
Updated: 2012-09-01
Packaged: 2017-11-13 08:03:21
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,147
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/501270
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AubreySimone/pseuds/AubreySimone
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Alternate Universe. After her father disgraces the North multiple times, the Youkai Council forces Kagome Higurashi, heiress to the Northern Lands, into a political mating with the youngest son of the Southern lord, Miroku Miyamoto. Kagome, sure that nothing good can come of love, vows that she will complete her duty for her people and her people only, but Miroku has a different plan in mind. He's certain it won't be easy, but he could be patient.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Vivacious

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: The anime/manga InuYasha belongs to Rumiko Takahashi. The author, Aubrey Simone, makes no money from the writing or posting of this fic. No copyright infringement is intended.

**01**

"I don't like him, Jiro."

With an apologetic glance at the Lord and Lady of the South, the addressed youkai turned to his charge. "My lady, perhaps you shouldn't say such things?" he suggested.

Blue eyes snapping beneath thick ebon bangs, the small child—a mere eight winters old—crossed her arms over her chest and stuck her nose into the air. "It's the truth," she responded, sneaking another glance at the previously insulted Southern princeling and twisting her lips in disdain.

Thinking with some sadness that she had gotten that expression from her father, Jiro bowed deeply. "I apologize, young lord, for my lady's behavior. She has had a bad morning."

"It is of no consequence, Jiro-san," the Southern lord responded lightly in his son's stead, the amusement Jiro could hear in his voice twinkling in his dark eyes. "Do come in out of the heat, and we shall speak."

Jiro nodded, and motioned for the guards that they had traveled with to disperse as the Southern family retreated into their home. He followed after them at a respectful distance, keeping a watchful eye on the tiny, sullen figure that walked ahead of him. He bit back a sigh. _He_ shouldn't be the one doing this, yet here he was, accompanying his lord's reluctant daughter to meet her betrothed for the first time. He briefly wondered if his liege lord were well today, and then prayed that it was so.

"…And that leads to the gardens," the Lady Yuume was saying, one claw-tipped hand gesturing toward the doorway and exposed balcony to their left.

Jiro nodded, examining the Southern Estate as they walked through the halls. The place was much warmer than the Northern Estate in both atmosphere and design, and there were numerous open windows and deliberate little windows in the ceiling that allowed the warmth of the Southern lands to filter into the halls. With floors constructed of rich wood and furnishings made in a simple but pleasing style, it was easy to see why the Southern Dragon Tribe rarely left their lands; with beauty and atmosphere such as this, it was a wonder they left at all.

They crossed into a sitting room in which a moderately sized table was surrounded by sun yellow cushions and that opened into a high balcony over which one could see the entirety of the Southern gardens. Jiro glanced at his young mistress and was slightly dismayed that not even the view could lift the dour expression from her face. He bit back another sigh and settled beside her on a cushion.

It was the Southern lady that spoke first. "Miroku, didn't you have something to show to the Lady Kagome?"

The young lord, older than Kagome by about two years, nodded his dark head and stood, offering a hand to the still silent Northern princess. "Lady Kagome, if you would come with me?"

Though the inquiry was stiff with formality and perhaps a little forced, Jiro thought that the boy had done well. Kagome looked at his hand for a while, and then blatantly ignored the kind gesture and stood on her own, brushing non-existent wrinkles from her ice blue kimono. "I can walk on my own, thank you."

Jiro wanted to throttle the child, but settled for glowering at her instead; she stared defiantly at him, and when the Southern lord waved for his son to go ahead, she turned and marched out after him with her head held high. He sighed.

"My lord, my lady, I apologize again. I have come to understand that my lady is very outspoken in her young years, but I did not think that she would be so outwardly unwilling."

Lady Yuume waved a hand in dismissal, a slight smile playing on her lips. "It matters not. We suspected that she may be a bit stubborn in this matter."

Jiro looked out toward the gardens and sighed. They had no idea.

**(((*)))**

Kagome didn't want to be here. It was hot, and this boy who would be her husband when she grew up was so unbelievably _boring_ that she wished she were anywhere else. He hadn't said a word to her since they'd left the company of his parents and her guardian, and it seemed that he wasn't _going_ to say anything in the near future, either.

"Are you _always_ so quiet?" she asked angrily a few moments after they passed into the gardens.

He looked down at her, large violet eyes annoyingly calm. "What would you like to talk about?" he inquired.

Kagome pursed her lips, and although she was surprised that he'd asked, covered it with nonchalance. "Nothing."

The Southern prince nodded and continued leading her through the gardens. Kagome could admit—if only to herself—that the sprawling estate was very nice to look at. Of course, the temperature was nothing that she would ever come to like, and she wondered again why her father had decided to send her so far from home. Did she really remind him _that much_ of her mother?

She shook her head. She wouldn't think about that right now, not when she had other things to worry about; the most immediate being where her betrothed was leading her. "Where are you taking me?" They had left the gardens—it looked to her like they had left the Estate grounds altogether—and were walking toward an open field.

He didn't answer, and instead walked for a while more before stopping. She looked around and saw nothing but a large swath of uncultivated land and the fairly close edge of a cliff. When she looked back at him, fully intending to demand that he tell her why he'd brought her here, he gestured out toward the cliffs.

"All of this is yours," he said quietly, the words catching in a breeze. "I know that you're a Northern wind youkai, and the breezes that come in off of the sea are always much cooler than the ones that blow closer to the Estate." He turned serene eyes to her face. "I thought you might like it."

For a moment, Kagome was overwhelmed with the need to thank the dragon. And then she sneered. "I hope you don't think that giving me land is going to make me like you more," she said haughtily, turning her nose up like she'd seen the ladies do at Court. "I'll never like you, or this Estate."

And with that, she turned and walked away.

Miroku watched her go.

**(((*)))**

**Author's Note:** This story was originally posted to FanFiction.Net, but it has been removed and will now be exclusive to this site. Updates may come sporadically for quite some time - I have other projects and school to deal with - but rest assured that I will complete this story. Anyway, thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed!

**~Aubrey**


End file.
